Kick-off for steam-drilling engines



Sept. 15. 1925 1,553,950

-J. A. MORRISON ET AL KICK-OFF FOR STEAM DRILLYING ENGINES Filed April 19, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I gwumroz WW/Yazyrav'e Jfl Marniww v I If 1- Sept. 15. 1925' J. A. MORRISON ET AL KICK-OFF FORSTEAM DRILLING ENGINES Filed April 19, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v awe/him WWHazyrm a Patented Sept. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESS A. MORRISON, OF SALT CREEK, WYOMING, AND WILLIAM W. HARGROVE, OF

BOULDER, COLORADO; HARRIETT MORRISON, DECEASED.

MORRISON ADMINISTRATRIX OF SAID JESS A.

KICK-OFF FOR STEAM-DRILLING ENGINES.

Application filed April 19, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Jnss A. MORRISON and WILLIAM W. HARGROVE, citizens of the United States, residing at Salt Creek and Boulder, respectively, in the counties of Natrona and Boulder and States of l/Vyomin and Colorado, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in, Kick-Offs for Steam-Drilling Engines, of which the following is a specification.

As is well known, in the operation of oil well drilling machinery, the drillers working station is at the base of the derrick, and some distance from the engine employed for operating the walking beam and other parts of the drilling apparatus. Frequently the drilling engine stops at center, in the operation of the drilling apparatus, and especially is this true in the operations of casing, bailing and swabbing. Stopping of the drilling engine at center necessitates that the driller, or his assistant, leave the derrick which is his working station, as previously mentioned, go to the engine, and start the engine by hand.

The primary object of the present invention is to provlde means enabling the driller, without moving from his station at the derrick, to effect starting of the engine when it stops at center. The means of the invention consists of a small starting attachment adapted to be applied to drilling apparatus already in use, with facility,-whereby the operator or driller while remaining at his .working station at the derrick, may readily operate a flywheel actuating device attached to the engine, and thereby throw thefiywheel over dead center, thus starting the engine readily and with considerable saving of time and trouble.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of the lower portion of an oil well derrick showing the walking beam and its actuating means; also an engine with starting apparatus in the form of the attachment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the invention as applied to the engine, the derrick base and headache post being shown in section.

Figure 3 is a view illustrating a portion of the engine, its flywheel in section, and the flywheel actuating device as when prelimi- Serial No. 633,257.

narily adjusted to engage the flywheel ready to be pulled to turn the flywheel from its center position.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the attachment, the operating rod removed, and the supporting bracket or stand being broken away.

Figure 5 is a sectional View on the line 55 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the operating rod and the way it passes thru the headache post to a point adjacent to the derrick.

Figure 8 is a detail perspective view of a linkage feature in the connection between the operating rod and the flywheel actuating lever.

In the accompanying drawings A denotes the derrick of an oil well, the same being of conventional construction and having the walking beam B adjacent thereto operated as usual by the pitman C. The drillingengine is designated at D, and is connected up for the operation of the drilling apparatus in the customary manner, well known to those versed in the art.

The attachment of the present invention,

designed for starting the engine when the same stops at its center position, is best shown in Figures 3 to 8 inclusive. Referring particularly to Fig. 3, it will be ob served that our starting device comprises a lever 1 provided adjacent to one end thereof with a pivot coupling 2, which pivotally supports the lever upon a bracket or stand consisting of two downwardly extending legs 3, and the laterally extending leg 4. Preferably the parts 3 and 4 constitute brace members of the stand, the two legs 3 being attached to the bed plate bolts of the engine B, and the other leg 4 being attached to a bearing cap bolt on the bearing closest to the belt pulley 5 of said engine. It is not material to the invention that the stand supporting the lever 1 should be of the specific construction disclosed, for any substantial support, attachable to'the engine, may be utilized tocarry the lever 1 in a position in which it extends approximately transverse to the flywheel 6 of the engine.

Mounted within the lever 1, whichis of tubular formation, is a flywheel engaging bar or member 7. This baris adapted to slide freely longitudinally thru the lever 1, but is normally maintained in a retracted position illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6, in relation to said tubularlever. position mentioned is such that the end of the actuating bar 7 remote from the flywheel 6, is considerably projected from the lever 1, the projecting means being a coiled spring 8 that surrounds the bar 7 and is located termediate a lateral arm 9projeeting from thea'rm '7,"and a couplii' ig member 10. The member 10 is located at the extremity of the hollow lever 1, remote from the flywheel 6, and said coupling member IO'has a swivel orball and socket connection at. 11 with a turning arm 12 which projects laterally from said coupling member. The turning arm 12 carries a crank arm 13 attached by alink or links 14 to a suitable pivot pin 15 which projects from the extremity of the arm 9 ,aforesaid, Connected with the outer end of the arm 12, in other words the extremity, which is'towards the derrick A, is

a double pivot link 16 "to; which is attached an actuating rod 17 that leads from the engine over to the base of the derrick, and is preferably passed thru the headache post 1'8, so that the latter forms a guiding and positioning means for said rod. The rod 17 is equipped with an operatinghandle 19, and the arrangement of the parts is such that the attachment may be operated as follows:

Assuming that the parts of the invention are in the positions substantially as shown in'Figures 4 to 6, the operator may push the rod 17 in the direction 'ofthe engine D until the lever 1 assumes the somewhat angular position of Fig. 3. Thereupo'n the operator will turn or rotate the rod 17 so as to cause the crank arm 13 "to pull on the links 1'4 and thereby move the flywheel actuating "bar 7 longitudinally of and in the lever '1. The above operation will cause the bar 7 to be projected from the lever 1 at the end of the latter adjacent to the flywheel 6, the bar 7 will in fact be engaged between the spokes of the flywheel and the spring 8 will be compressed in an obvious manner, so that the operator may then readily pull on the rod 17. The pull on the rod 17 will shift the lever 1 pivotally upon the stand or bracket on which it movably mounted, thus turningthe flywheel from its: center position and cause starting of the engine in an evident manner.

The above operation is performed by the driller or his assistant, while stationed at the derrick, without necessitating that he leave the derrick and 'go'over to the engine according'to the usual practice.

It 'is'notable that certain of the parts of our attachment "may lee-made from pipe lengths and pipe unions or couplings of The retracted standard manufacture. However, we have only illustrated our invention so constructed as a simple method of its embodiment, it being understood, of course, that considerable departure may be made from the use of pipe fittings, in the carrying out of the invention, within the purview thereof, :as outlined in the claims annexed hereto. The attachment for our purposes is very simply constructed, may becheaply manufactured for practical use, and affords time saving and other advantages that will be readily apparent to those versed in the art of handling oil well mach'ii'iery, and especially those acquainted with the operation of drilling engines, in

conjunction with which our invention is desi 'ned to be used.

yVhile we have described herein, and illustrate'd in the drawings, an arrangement of the actuating rod 17 in which i't'pa'sses thru the'hea'dach'e post; 18, it is to be understood that'wifihin the purview of our invention, this rod 17 may pass to or thru and beguided 'by'the calf-wheel post of the derrick, the latterbeing' located aboutfthree feet away fromth'e headache post. We therefore do not wish to be limitedto the exact construction described and illustrated as regards the rod 17, since it is arranged so as to be guided bya suitable post adjacent to the derrick, and that is the primary consideration, whether the post be aheadache post, calfwheel post, or some other post. I

It is also notable that the fly-wheel of the engine has six'spokes so that it may be kickednfi both in "frontand back of cen ter. If the member 7 'is behind the spoke which-it is designed to engage, the rod '17 would be pushed, and if the member "7 is just in f ont-of the spoke, the 'rod 17 would be pulled.

Having described our invention, what We claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent}, is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with an engine having a movable part, an engine starter mounted 'a'djaeent'to "th movable part of the engine and shiftable into .ando'ut of engagementtherewith, and an'actuating member mounted to have both "a rotary and a sliding movement, mean's'operated by one of the said move ments of the actuating member to shift the engine starter into operative positien, and means operated by the other movement of the actuating member to move the movable part of the engine. f

2. In combination, a well derrick, a drilling engine a short distance therefrom, "and comprising a spoked flywheel, a flywheel turning means for said engine, comprising an aetuating part to engage the spokes of the flywheel, and means for operating said actuating part leading to the derrick.

3. In a device of 'thechara'cter described,

the combination with an engine having a movable part, of a normally retracted engine starter adapted to engage the movable part, a rod mounted to have a sliding and a rotary movement and operatively connected to the engine starter whereby the rotary movement thereof will shift the engine starter into operative position, and the sliding movement thereof will cause it to move the movable part of the engine.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with an engine including a wheel, a wheel engaging part, yielding means normally holding the wheel engaging part in a retracted position, an actuating member mounted to have both a rotary and a sliding movement, means operated by the rotary movement of the actuating member for moving the wheel engaging part into operative position, and means operated by the sliding movement of the actuating member for causing the wheel engaging part to turn the wheel.

5. In combination, an oil well derrick, a drilling engine therefor, and means for turn ing the engine flywheel from a center position to start the same, comprising a stand attached to the engine, a lever on said stand, a flywheel engaging bar mounted on the lever, and an operating part connected with said bar so that by initial movement of the operating part the bar will move relatively to the lever to engage the flywheel, and subsequent movement of said operating part will move the bar with the lever to turn the flywheel.

6. An attachment for oil well apparatus, substantially as described, comprising a stand, an operating lever pivoted thereto, a bar slidable on said lever for engagement with a flywheel, an operating rod leading to a point some distance from the lever, and operating connections between said rod and said bar for sliding the bar relatively to the lever to render the bar operative, and for then moving the lever to actuate the bar therewith for effective operation as set forth.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination with an engine having a wheel, of a wheel engaging part having both a sliding and a swinging movement, yielding means normally sliding the wheel engaging part into a retracted position, an actuating rod having both a sliding and a swinging action, means operated by the rotary movement of the rod for sliding the wheel engaging part into operative position, and means actuated by a subsequent sliding movement of the rod for swinging the wheel engaging part to turn the wheel.

8. An attachment for oil well drilling engines, the same comprising a stand adapted to be secured to the engine, a lever pivoted to the stand, and of hollow formation, an operating rod, a flywheel engaging bar mounted in the lever, and operating connections between said rod and the lever, and between said rod and said bar, whereby the bar may be moved to a flywheel engaging position, and the lever then shifted to move it and the bar together to effect a flywheel turning action, the bar being mounted in the hollow portion of the lever.

9. An attachment for oil well drilling engines, the same comprising a stand adapted to be secured to the engine, a lever pivoted to the stand, an operating rod, a flywheel engaging bar mounted in the lever, operating connections between said rod and the lever, and between said rod and said bar, whereby the bar may be moved to a flywheel engaging position, and the lever then shifted to move it and the bar together to effect a flywheel turning action, and a spring means interposed between the bar and the lever for normally retaining the bar retracted out of flywheel engaging position.

10. An attachment for oil well drilling engines, the same comprising a stand combined with the engine, an engine starting bar to engage the spokes of the flywheel, a support for said bar, means for imparting preliminary movement to the engine starting bar to position it in the path of a spoke of the flywheel for starting the engine, and a subsequent movement for actually starting the engine, said last means contiprising a single member movably mounted on the stand and movably supporting the bar, and means to normally maintain the bar in an inactive or nonstarting position relatively to the engine.

11. In combination, an oil Well engine, a stand attached thereto, a lever pivoted to said stand, a flywheel engaging bar mounted on said lever, a spring normally holding said bar retracted in a position out of the path of the flywheel, an arm oifstanding from said lever, a crank connection between said arm and the bar for moving the bar to engage it with the flywheel of the engine, and an operating rod connected with said arm to initially move it to shift the bar to engage the flywheel, and to subsequently move the lever to cause turning of the flywheel under the actuation of the bar and said lever.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

JESS A. MORRISON. 7 WILLIAM W. HARGROVE. 

